Does learning play a role in recovery of lateral hypothalamic function? We use a movement-notation system for behavioral analysis of the somnolence, akinesia, catalepsy, and neglect that accompany the adipsia of the early stages of the lateral hypothalamic syndrome. We have isolated behavioral subsystems that appear to interact in normal exploration and motivation. Their reflexive action, alone or in combination, seem to account for several phenomena in normal infantile development, in drug-induced stereotypies, and in several forms of brain damage. During recovery these subsystems become transformed, perhaps by learning, into operant behavior. High-speed filming, behavioral-neurological testing as well as EEG and EMG measures, and movement-notation, are being used to study these phenomena in adult and infant animals.